E-Publishing as a stepping stone

AngelaA · Jun 12, 2009

I've been wondering...

Do you think being e-published can be a stepping stone toward eventual publication at one of the big houses?

Has anyone had positive experiences getting an agent by using e-publishing as a publishing credit?

mercs · Jun 12, 2009

I think it's as much a opportunity as the kid recording music in his bedroom on a tape player in the hope of getting signed. There are a few examples of people hitting it big with hard work and some great work, but likewise there are examples of waiters/waitresses becoming big. For every one there's at least a million that don't hit it...

not sure how much agents or publishing houses are checking e-books (if they do at all!), but who knows, it's more likely to be spotted than rotting away in a drawer somewhere....

brainstorm77 · Jun 12, 2009

AngelaA said:
I've been wondering...

Do you think being e-published can be a stepping stone toward eventual publication at one of the big houses?

Has anyone had positive experiences getting an agent by using e-publishing as a publishing credit?

I think it depends on who you e-publish with. Some e-publishers are doing very well and their authors have decent sales.

mlhernandez · Jun 13, 2009

Definitely depends on the genre you write and maybe even which epublishers publish you. In erotic romance, for instance, a good number of authors make the jump from epublishing to agent or publisher. Look at publishers like Kensington. Their Aphrodisia line is filled with authors who got their starts at places like EC, Samhain, Cobblestone, etc.

I think it's more important to view epublishing as what it is rather than looking at it as a stepping stone. I went into epublishing because it's the perfect niche for my short works of erotica and erotic romance. The pay has been wonderful and I feel as if my craft is constantly improving.

Am I still looking toward NYC pubs and agents? Absolutely. In fact, I'm working on a novel at the moment geared for the agent hunt.

AngelaA · Jun 14, 2009

That's pretty much how I was looking at it...as a way to improve my writing on the job while doing what I really want to be doing...writing!

I know there have been a few success stories coming out of epublishing both staying as epublishing authors and moving into the realm of NY houses.

Nefertiti Baker · Jun 17, 2009

There are TONS of romance/erotica authors who go from e-pub to NYC print. Heck, many of the e-pubs are putting out print books, anyway, so they're right next to the NYC books on the shelf already.

Merc, what genre are you talking about? I'd agree that that's probably the case for general fiction, but def. not for romance.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 21, 2009

The big thing that gets you up to selling to major houses is learning how to write.

Any practice you get helps you move in that direction, whether it's published or not.

Someday look at the NYT best seller list. Then look to see where those authors published their first books. Try to draw lessons from what you've learned.

veinglory · Jun 21, 2009

It has been a stepping stone for some but be aware that conditions have changed over recent years. NY presses have their own erotic romance writers and most of them are running leaner line-ups anyway. Generally you epublish because you want to epublish, or the manuscript is suited to epublishing, or it is the best you can realistically hope for.

veinglory · Jun 22, 2009

Epublishing can be great for novelettes and novellas.

5bcarnies · Jun 22, 2009

I went to the KYRW workshop in March. The two major guests were an author that made the jump from epublishing and a co-founder of Resplendence E-Publishing. Between the two of them the workshop was very enlightening.

The author wrote more specualtive fiction. So, the jump was easier than if she wrote romance. However, she did say that because of her genre and the fact that she had a fan base from e-publishing she felt that when she went in search of agent the process was easier than expected.

The representative from the e-pub stated that their biggest selling genre was male on male erotic. For all tense in purposes she said if some one had a well written male on male they would be published, period. Their markets after the big ONE went as follows: orgie-erotica, hedero-erotica, historical romance, and finally paranormal romance made up the big five.

I suppose it depends on what you write and how you write. I have often wondered about using e-publishing as a stepping stone or sticking with it for the long hall. For as much as I would love to say e-pub is for me because its better for the environment I think I may be more of a book snob(I love the smell of a book) and cannot lock the thought down. To each their own, I suppose.

James D. Macdonald · Jun 22, 2009

MaddieT said:
I'm a bit leery of diving right in with querying a big name publisher, so I was thinking about starting out with a few queries/submissions to epubs.

For heaven's sake, why?

What's the worst the big-name publisher can do? Say no?

Never bet against yourself.

mlhernandez · Jun 23, 2009

James D. Macdonald said:
For heaven's sake, why?

What's the worst the big-name publisher can do? Say no?

Never bet against yourself.

I think Maddie is writing short works. (At least that's what I got from her post.) If she's writing, say, erotic romance novellas the market for big name publishers is small. There's Kensington Aphrodisia and Avon Red. Both do collections of single author ER novellas.

There might be others. I know Berkeley and NAL have spicy book lines but I haven't seen any novella collections or anthologies.

Erotic romance novellas do really well with the top-tier epubs. I can't complain with what I'm making off of works in the 10-25K range that aren't suitable for NY publishers.

Outside of erotica and erotic romance, I really can't speak to the sales numbers. I do agree with the top down approach on novel length works of any genre. For something shorter? Eh, I think you have to weigh your options and decide what, exactly, it is you want and/or need.

wizzy812 · Feb 13, 2010

Are there ever people that want a hard copy after reading an ebook?

triceretops · Feb 13, 2010

I did have a few who said they were going to wait for the print edition. Problem is you have to reach a sales ceiling in order to qualify for print, with my publisher, anyway. So, I assume I lost those two. But I wanted to try e-books just to see what the process was and how sales might be different from the print variety. So far, excellent editing, and an amount/effort of marketing and promotion from the house that I did not expect at all.

Tri

KMTolan · Feb 14, 2010

A bit late to this discussion, sorry.

Assuming that you have a track record going with a respectable e-book publisher, then of course you have more to impress an agent with than someone who just comes in cold. Don't kid yourself, though, these stepping stones are no pebbles themselves if they are worth using.

Kerry

Simon John Cox · Feb 15, 2010

I've made some of my writing available for download as eBooks, partly because there's no point it just sitting on my hard drive, and partly because if I can generate a respectable number of sales off my own back then I'm hoping that agents/publishers will be more likely to pay attention to me when I contact them.

Deb Kinnard · Feb 15, 2010

It's worked for me (three e-presses before a mid-sized print house), but I don't write erotic romance. I can't say whether I'd have sold to this larger house without the e-press credits, but I did learn a great deal about my writing bad habits, and how to break them, due to the excellent editing I got at the e-publishers.

Everyone's mileage, of course, may vary.

triceretops · Feb 16, 2010

I originally thought that e-book publishing might help to establish a small fan base. It's worked out, but not in the big numbers. Then again, I'm paranormal romance, not erotica.

Tri

Darklite · Feb 17, 2010

I think e-pubbing is the only way to go for me, considering my genre. And I'm very grateful they're around. Many moons ago when I was tapping out my stories on a word processor, I had no idea that a few years later there would be such a huge market for my sub-genre. Plus a lot of the e-books I've bought are as good as many print books I've read, so I'm not complaining.

*RomanceWriter* · Feb 19, 2010

I know a lot of friends that write erotic romance exclusively for e-pubs and make a very cushy living. They are quite happy where they are and don't desire to move to a big house.

jana13k · Feb 23, 2010

At conferences, agents/editors regularly talk about this subject and this seems to be their general stance: IF what you sold to e-pubs is not usually supported by NY publishers (as erotica was not for a long time), then e-pubbing is acceptable. IF you sell to e-pubs but the NY houses buy what you write, then *most* assume your writing is not up to par.

Don't yell at me, everyone. But that's the assumption made by the industry professionals. I tend to agree. I can't understand in the least why someone with a full-length work in a genre that is currently distributed by NY publishers would not go that route first. Don't you realize that the feedback alone may get your writing to a level that they DO want to buy?

But I will also admit that I had zero intention of doing anything but pursuing NY when I started writing. I love telling stories but writing is a business for me and I conduct it as such. If you don't feel as stringently, then your goals may not be the same.

Mind you, my comments do not include the handful of reputable e-pubs who are known to produce quality work.

veinglory · Feb 23, 2010

If the work is suitable for a commercial press, epublishing does generally mean setting a lower bar. Seems reasonable to me.

Jake G · Feb 23, 2010

jana13k said:
At conferences, agents/editors regularly talk about this subject and this seems to be their general stance: IF what you sold to e-pubs is not usually supported by NY publishers (as erotica was not for a long time), then e-pubbing is acceptable. IF you sell to e-pubs but the NY houses buy what you write, then *most* assume your writing is not up to par.

Don't yell at me, everyone. But that's the assumption made by the industry professionals. I tend to agree. I can't understand in the least why someone with a full-length work in a genre that is currently distributed by NY publishers would not go that route first. Don't you realize that the feedback alone may get your writing to a level that they DO want to buy?

But I will also admit that I had zero intention of doing anything but pursuing NY when I started writing. I love telling stories but writing is a business for me and I conduct it as such. If you don't feel as stringently, then your goals may not be the same.

Mind you, my comments do not include the handful of reputable e-pubs who are known to produce quality work.

So does this mean if I have a full length mainstream manuscript which I planned to ditch all together, and an epublisher offers me a contract, I should say "no" because it might hurt my reputation the next time I submit a new manuscript to agents/NY publishers?

veinglory · Feb 23, 2010

It may, it may not, it is certainly possible.

KMTolan · Feb 23, 2010

I have one thing to say to this supposed attitude that e-pubs generate nothing but inferior work - it is pure bullshit.

Most NY authors I talk with don't buy into this anymore than I do. In many situations, it is a simple case where the stories do not match "what's selling" in the eyes of NY. Are you also naive as to how many good authors actually can be handled by NY? (Hint - the vanishing mid-lists)

Kerry

E-Publishing as a stepping stone

AngelaA

Are we there yet?

mercs

brainstorm77

practical experience, FTW

mlhernandez

AngelaA

Are we there yet?

Nefertiti Baker

~Hot Zen Kitty~

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

veinglory

volitare nequeo

veinglory

volitare nequeo

5bcarnies

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

mlhernandez

wizzy812

triceretops

KMTolan

No drama

Simon John Cox

Deb Kinnard

triceretops

Darklite

RomanceWriter

New kid, be gentle!

jana13k

Yep. I can.

veinglory

volitare nequeo

Jake G

veinglory

volitare nequeo

KMTolan

No drama

E-Publishing as a stepping stone

Are we there yet?

practical experience, FTW

Are we there yet?

~*Hot Zen Kitty*~

Your Genial Uncle

volitare nequeo

volitare nequeo

Your Genial Uncle

No drama

New kid, be gentle!

Yep. I can.

volitare nequeo

volitare nequeo

No drama

~Hot Zen Kitty~